Gas-producers.



E. A. W, JEFFERIES. GAS PRODUCER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1909.

1,153,623. PatentedSept H, 1915.

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GAS PRODUCER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

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EBENFZER- A. JEFFERIES, OFWOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO MORGAN CONSTRUCTION OOMPANY OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

GAS-BRODUCER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented se ta i, 1e15,

Application filed April 1, 1909. Serial m3. 487,355.

residing at lVorcester, in the county of W'orcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gas-Producers, of which right in full.

the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved gas producer. ,Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the same on lines 22 of Figs. 3 and 4, showing the plow at the left and the driving mechanism at the Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ash pan, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the driving mechanism for rotating the ash pan.

Similar reference letters and figures refer to similar parts in the different views.

My invention relates to a gas producer having a heating chamber with an inclosing wall divided into stationary and rotatable sections in order to prevent the caking of the coal, and which'is' also provided with automatic means for removing the ashes from the bottom of the heating chamber, in order to maintain the zone of. incandescence of the coal in a uniform position and secure. a regular and uniform combustion, and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter described and pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my improvements applied to a gas producer having a rotary ash pan, in which the ashes are deposited from the combustion chamber, with the ash pan of a larger diameter than said combustion chamber and having'a flaring side with which a narrow blade is arranged to coperate. In the gas producer, as shown in the drawings, the ash pan receives the ashes from the lower endof an ash hopper, supported by androtating with the ash pan. Above thejash hopper is a stationary gas producing chamber to which fuel is supplied in the usual manner. Air, to support combustion. is introduced in' the lower part of the combustion chamber through acentral conduit.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 is a combustion chamber of a gas producer inclosed in a stationary casing 2 supported upon posts 3. The ash hopper is supported upon feet 5 resting upon a central cone 6 of a rotating ash pan 7. Mounted upon the cone 6 is a hood 8, having slits or openings for the delivery of an air blast to the combustion chamber, said air blast being supplied through a central conduit 9. The ash pan is circular in plan view and is provided with a flaring side 10. The flaring side 10 and the central cone 6 form an annular ash receiving trough 10 substantially triangular in cross section into'which ashes fall from the ash hopper & and. are accumulated in the angle between the side 10 and the cone ('5. The flaring side IO eXtends above the lower end of the ash hopper 4 forming an annular space through which ashes may be removed over the top of the flaring side 10. The ash pan is supported upon three rolls 11 having divergent shafts 12, which are journaled in bearings 13 supported upon piers 14L.

The shaft 12 of one roll 11 is rotated by a worm gear 15 driven by a worm 16 connected with any convenient source of power, not shown. The inner, end of the shaft 12, which carries the worm gear 15 on its outer end, is connected with the inner ends of the other two shafts 12 by bevel gears 17 and intermediate pinions 18, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby providing a positive drive for all threeof the shafts 12 from the worm 16.

It is desirable for the most eflicient opera.- tion of the gas producer that the zone of combustion be maintained at a predetermined vertical position relatively to the apex of the hood 8. If the zone of com bustion be raised too high above the hood 8, a mass of ashes will accumulate upon the hood and check the free delivery of the air blast to the incandescent coal. If,on the other hand, the zone of combustion fallstoo low, it will include the hood 8, which will soon become burned out by the intense heat. The proper maintenance of the hot zone relatively to the hood 8 is accomplished by controlling the withdrawal of ashes from the of the ash hopper and the flaring side 10 of the ash hopper is facilitated, and the hot' ually raised.

By clearing the ashes from the ash pan the delivery of ashes from the bottom of zone in the combustion-chamber gradually lowered. The removal of the ashes from the ash pan should be substantially uniform around the entire circumference of the ash hopper, to produce a unifonn settling of the contents of the gas producing chamber. I In the case of gas producers having stationary ash pa'ns where the ashes are'removed by an attendant, by means ofa hoe or shovel, uniform delivery of ashes has been difficult of accomplishment. therefore, been proposed to accomplish the delivery of ashes from the ash pan by rotating the ash pan and interposing, in the path of the ashes carried thereby, a plow or blade having a warped surface and acting similar to a plowshare, to causethe ashesto be lifted as they are brought against it and carried over the edge of the ash' pan by the warped surface of the plow. This method of removing ashes from a rotating pan has met with the objection that, as the ash containing space between the flaring sides bf the ash pan and the central cone was V- shaped, it was diflicult to remove clinkers from the bottom of the V-shaped trough without clearing out the entire ash pan of ashes, which was undesirable. If the plow was raised to obviate this objection,"t-hen the removal of ashes took place only from the top of the V-shaped trough and allowed the clinkers to accumulate at the bottom.

By my present inventi0n, I accomplish the removal of clinkers from the bottom of the pan and control the removal of ashes with any desired degree of accuracy, whereby the zone of greatest combustion in the gas producing chamber is always maintained at a predetermined heightabove the. apex of the hood 8. I accomplish this result by employing, in cooperation with the flaring side 10 of the ash pan, a comparatively narrow blade 19, with its under edge held parallel with the flaring side 10 of the ash pan as shown in Fig. 2. The-blade. 19 is attached to a head 20, which is arranged to slide in ways 21 on a plate 22 attached to one of the posts 3. A pinion 23 is carried on .a spindle projecting from the head 20, and is arranged to engage a rack 21 on the plate 22 and to be rotatable by a handwheel 25. By rotating the hand wheel 25, the blade 19 may be raised or lowered in a plane parallel with the side of the ash pan, thereby regulating the quantity of ashes removed from the ash pan by contact'with the blade'19 and adjusting the speed of delivery. The head It has,

20 i s retained in the desired position by tightening the nuts 27.

. The removal of ashes fromcthe ash pan is accomplished as follows: The ash pan 7 is rotated in the direction of the arrow at, Fig. 3, and the ashes lying. against the flaring side 10 of the ash pan are brought into con" tact with the blade 19, which is preferably slightly inclined in plan view by means of a bend at the point 26 bringing the blade 19 at an oblique angle to the pathof the ashes as they are carried around by the rotating ash pan. The blade 19 preferably extends substantially to the bottom of the V-shaped trough formed between the central cone 6 and the flaring side 10, of the ash pan. The mass of the ashes contained in the pan will,

'of course, passover the upper edge of'the blade 19, but those striking, against the side of the blade will be-impeded in their forward movement and caused to slide upwardly upon the flaring side 10,of the ashpan and be delivered over its prim. The movement of ashes, which are impeded by their contactwith the blade 19, takes'plaoe in the entire strata lying between the rim of the ash pan and the bottom of the V-shaped trough, so that the clinkers or other obstructive masses will be eventually dislodged at whatever depth they may be' buried, and crowded upward against the flaring side 10.01": the pan.

It has been found in practice-that, in the operation of the gas. producer, the interval between thestationary and rotating sections of the inclosing wall is gradually filledby clinkers, ashes, etc. In order toprevent this,

I provide an annular plate 28, loosely suspended in a horizontal position from the stationary casing 2 upon a series of hooked supports 29, and arranged to be interposed between the top of the rotatable section at and the opposing wall of the stationary casing 2, in order to close the'spaceland to prevent the passage of coal or clinkers over the top of the rotatable section 4.

Su licient space must beprovided betweenthe top. of the rotatable section 4: and the casing 2 to allow for the expansion of the walls of the sections2 and 4, in addition to the thickness of the plate 28, and I regulate "this space bythe vertical adjustment of the rotatable section 4, which is accomplished as follows: Interposed between the ash pan which supports the rotatable section I and the rolls 11 is a ring 30, and Wedges 31 are inserted between the bottom of the ash. pan-- and the ring 30, by means of which the ro- I tatable ash pan may be raised or lowered. When the adjustment is complete, the ash pan is secured in the proper position by tightening thebolts 32, connecting the ash pan/and the ring 30. In order to enable the removal of ashes from the ash pan to be controlled; independently of the vertical ad- .justment of the blade 19, I provide a curved plate 33 concentric with the rim of the ash pan and attached at its opposite ends to two of the posts 3. The plate 33 extends upwardly above the rim of the ash pan, and is provided with an opening 34: adjacent to the plate 2.2 which supports the blade .19. The concentric'plate 33 is held in position to impede the flow of ashes over the rim of the ash pan, except as they are. allowed to pass through the opening 3i. The openingifil may be partially closed by means of .a sliding door 35, thereby controlling the delivery of ashes from the ash pan. This method of control of the ash delivery enables the blade 19 to be moved down to dislodge an accumulation of cinders from the bottom of the ash p'an without increasing the flow of ashes over the rim of the ash pan. The ashes accumulated by the blade are checked by the plate 33, except as they are allowed to pass through the opening 34:, and passlng over the blade 19 are'carried around by the ash pan.

I claim, 1. In a gas producer, the combination with a combustion chamber, of anash hopper, an ash p'an' spaced below said hopper provided with flaring sides inclosing the lower end of said hopper, and a central cone forming a substantially triangular trough for ashes and a .sta'tionarynarrow blade entering said trough, .with one edge parallel with and contiguous to the flaring side of said ash pan, withthe width of said blade less than the space'between the flaring of, the ash hopper side of the ash" pan and the opposing wall 2. "In agasproducer, a combustion chamber, an ash pan spaced below said chamber provided with an annular trough for ashes triangular in cross section and having flaring sides, means for rotating said pan, a narrow stationary'blade entering said annular trough, having parallel edges, with one of its edges incontact with the flaring side of the ash pan.

' 3. In a gas producer, a combustion chamber, an ash pan spacedbelow said chamber provided wlth an annular trough for ashes triangular 1n cross sectlon, 'anarrow stat1onar blade enterin said trou h w th one of its edges incontact with the flaring side of the ashpan, and means for raising and lowerlng said blade. 7

It. A gas producer, havlng a rotating ash pan, divergingshafts in the same horizontal plane beneath said ash pan, means carried by said shafts for supporting said pan and imparting rotation thereto, means for connecting. the inner ends of said diverging shafts, and means for rotating one of said diverging shafts.

'5.'.A gas producer, having a rotating ash pan, rolls supporting said ash pan, diverging shafts in the same horizontal plane .car-

rying said rolls, a bevel gear on the inner end of each diverging shaft, intermediate pinions connecting said gears, and means for rotating one of said. diverging shafts.

G. A gas producer, havi'ngaheating chamher with an inclosing wall comprising a stationaryand a rotatable section, and a single annular plate supported from said stationary section interposed between the bottom of said stationary section and the top of said rotatable section without contact with either section.

i 7. A gas producer, having aheating chamher with an inclosing wall comprising stationary and rotatable sections, and a single annular plate held in a horizontal position between said sections by hooked supports fronrsaid stationary section, but without contact with'either section, to prevent the. escape of material from the inside of said heating chamber.

S. A gas producer,havingaheating chamher with an inclosing wallcomprising stationary and rotatable sections, a single an nular plate supported from said stationary section in a horizontal position between the' bottom of said stationary section and the top of said rotatable section to prevent the escape of material from said chamber, and with suflicient space between said plate and said stationary and rotatable sections to allow for the expansion of said sections.

9. A gas producer,havingaheating chamber with an inclosing wall, comprising a stationary and a rotatable section,"an annular plate interposed in a space between said stationary section and the top of said rotatable section, and means for varying said space.

10. A gas producer, having a heating chamber with an inclosing wall comprising an upper stationary and a lower rotatable section, a single annular plate supported of said sections, and means for raising and lowering said rotatable section to vary said space: I

11. A gas producer, having a heating chamber with an inclosing wall comprising an upper stationary and a lower rotatable a section, with a space between said sections to allowfor the expansion of said sections, and means for raismg and lowerlng said 'rotatable section to vary said space.

12. A gas producer, having a heating chamber, comprising an upper and a lower section, an ash pan below said lower section supporting said lower section, means for rotating said ash pan, and means for raising and lowering said ash pan.

13. A gas producer, having a heating chamber, comprising an upper and a lower section, an ash pan below .said lower section supporting said lower section, means for rotating said ash pan, means for raising and lowering said ash pan, and means for securing said ash pan as it is 'raised or lowered.

1.4. A gas producer, having a rotating ash pan with a flaring outer side, means for impeding the movement of ashes next said flaringouter side, whereby they areforced upwardly over the rim of the ash pan, and

means concentric with the rim of said ash pan and extending upwardly therefrom for controlling the flow of ashes over said rim of the ash pan.

15. A gas producer, having a rotatlng ash pan with a flaring outer side, means for i m-' peding the movement of ashes next said flaring outer side of the ash pan, a plate extending above the ash pan having an openingfor the delivery of ashes, and means for controlling the flow of ashes through i said opening.

16. The combination with a rotating ash pan, of means for moving the ashes 1n sald pan upward over the rim of said pan, and

with for controlling the flow of ashes over said rim.. i 1

1 17. The combination with arotating ash pan, having aflaring outer side, of a, blade for impeding the flow of ashes in said pan next said outer side, and means above said -a plate concentric with said pan and eX-.

tending above it, provided with an opening for the'delivery of ashes, and means for varying the size of said opening. Dated this twenty fifth day of March 1909. i

EBEINEZERI A. w.

I Witnesses: I I

PENELOPE GOMBERBACIH, NELLIE WHALEN.

J EFFERIES.

-means above said rim and concentric there 

